Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed types of cancer worldwide, and exploring its potential therapeutic targets is particularly important for improving the prognosis of patients with GC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between serine/threonine kinase 17a (STK17A) expression and GC prognosis. STK17A expression was measured by quantitative real‑time PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. Standard stable transfection technology was also used to construct overexpression and knockdown cell lines. Wound healing, Transwell, Cell Counting Kit‑8 and colony formation assays, as well as other methods, were used to explore the function and underlying molecular mechanism of STK17A in GC. The results indicated that STK17A overexpression significantly promoted the proliferation and migration of GC cells. The clinical significance of STK17A in a cohort of 102 cases of GC was assessed by clinical correlation and Kaplan‑Meier analyses. Overexpression of STK17A was demonstrated to be associated with tumor invasion depth (P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (P<0.001) and poor prognosis in terms of 5‑year survival (P<0.001). In addition, Cox multivariate analysis revealed that STK17A expression was an independent risk factor for overall and progress‑free survival (P<0.001). Therefore, STK17A may be a valuable biomarker for the prognosis of patients with GC.
Keywords: gastric cancer; migration; prognosis; proliferation; serine/threonine kinase 17a.